Bahman Saless, executive director and music director of the Boulder Chamber Orchestra, believes that after 10 seasons, the group's rapport with the community is well-established.

"We do so many things differently from others," Saless said. "We choose our repertoire specifically for the classical music lover, and not for business survival, and that is becoming rarer even for the largest organizations."

With that in mind, Saless chose "Mystique" as the theme for the professional orchestra's 11th season, which opens Sept. 19 in Boulder, with repeat performances Sept. 20 in Broomfield and Sept. 21 in Denver.

"I thought it was a good word to describe what we have achieved," he said. "The title for each concert is a synonym that seemed to fit the music."

The season's seven orchestral concerts, one more than last year, feature two choral collaborations and a tribute to distinguished composer and University of Colorado professor Richard Toensing, who died earlier this year.

Most concerts are at First United Methodist Church in Boulder and the Broomfield Auditorium. Concerts typically begin at 7:30 p.m.

The September opening concert, "Charisma," is in collaboration with the Denver-based St. Martin's Chamber Choir. The featured work is the Requiem by Michael Haydn. The brother of the great Joseph Haydn, who succeeded Mozart at the court of the Archbishop of Salzburg, wrote the mass upon the death of the bishop. Joseph said that his brother was better at choral writing than he was. Mozart's own Requiem drew inspiration from Haydn's, which he knew well.

Spanish pianist Victoria Aja will perform with the Boulder Chamber Orchestra on Oct. 3 in Boulder and Oct. 4 in Broomfield. (Courtesy photo)

The work does not include violas, and Saless completes the program with two other pieces that do not require that instrument, a church sonata by Mozart and the second string sonata by Rossini.

On Oct. 3 in Boulder and Oct. 4 in Broomfield, Spanish pianist Victoria Aja joins the orchestra for "Glamour." She plays Manuel de Falla's "Nights in the Gardens of Spain." That composer's "Ritual Fire Dance" opens the program. Saless also asked Aja to include French master César Franck's "Symphonic Variations," which he described as "one of my favorite piano/orchestral pieces."

The Spanish/French connection continues with the sparkling C-major Symphony by Georges Bizet, whose greatest work, the opera "Carmen," is set in Spain.

Aja also will play a solo recital of Spanish piano music Oct. 10 (7:30 p.m.) at Grace Lutheran Church, 1101 13th St., Boulder.

On Nov. 7 in Broomfield and Nov. 8 in Boulder, "Allure" features cellist Inbal Segev. Saless describes her playing as "magnificent" and "unbelievable."

Segev plays the concerto by Friedrich Gulda, a piece that fuses jazz and classical elements in a virtuosic way. The orchestration for the concerto includes winds, guitar, timpani and drum set, but no other strings. Saless thus balances it with two pieces for winds, Igor Stravinsky's Octet and Mozart's Serenade in C minor.

The annual holiday "Gift of Music" concert, in Boulder on Dec. 19, promises to be a truly special event this year.

At last season's finale, Toensing, the late CU professor and composer, approached Saless about his 75th birthday, which would have occurred this year. Toensing offered to compose a piece for the holiday concert, to be performed with Vivaldi's "Gloria" and scored for the same orchestration as that piece. About a month later, however, Toensing was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He initially believed he would finish the piece and be able to attend the concert, but his condition deteriorated and he died July 2.

The concert, a tribute to Toensing, will include "When Beings of Fire Sang Praises with Beings of Clay," a piece for viola and orchestra written for the BCO seven years ago. CU viola professor Erika Eckert was soloist at the premiere and will play the part again. The Vivaldi "Gloria" is still on the program, with the Seicento Baroque Choir, soprano Szilvia Schranz, and alto Marjorie Bunday. It will not be played in Broomfield but will be repeated Dec. 20 at Denver's Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church.

The season continues with "Romance" on Jan. 30 in Boulder and Jan. 31 in Broomfield. Violinist Andrew Sords, who often performs unfamiliar pieces, plays the concerto by Anton Arensky, a late romantic Russian composer who was influenced by Tchaikovsky. Saless has long been a fan of the little-known work, and Sords agreed to learn it after listening to it on YouTube. He also plays Antonin Dvorák's Romance for Violin and Orchestra. The program concludes with Arensky's most famous work, the "Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky," and the warhorse "Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn" by Johannes Brahms.

Finally, pianist Hsing-Ay Hsu, a Boulder favorite and CU faculty member, headlines the season finale, "Character," with Chopin's second concerto in F minor. She returns after headlining the 2012-13 finale with Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto. For the third season in a row, Saless will close with a Beethoven Symphony. This year, it is the Fourth, leaving only the Sixth and Ninth for Saless yet to conduct. He opens with a Rossini overture, "La Scala di Setta."

The finale is May 9 in Broomfield and May 10 at Boulder Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 345 Mapleton, the only Boulder concert not at FUMC.

In addition to the Aja and Segev recitals, two additional small chamber music concerts are scheduled for Grace Lutheran Church with BCO musicians, on March 27 (Beethoven String Trios) and April 10 (Brahms and Beethoven String Quintets).

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